I don’t watch a lot of TV drama these days, at least since my friend, Dawn, passed away, four years ago. What I discovered with her is that there are some shows I can only seem to watch and enjoy with other people, that I wouldn’t normally think to watch by myself. Police dramas for example, Dawn and I watched a ton of them together. After she departed, I lost my interest for these shows.
Instead, in the past couple of years, I’ve been watching police murder docudramas; who dunnites sort of thing, showing how the police solve a crime, based on real cases. Nowadays, many of these crimes wouldn’t have been solved without the aid of CCTV and DNA profiling. It never fails to amaze me how many people forget that no matter where they go in public, they’re being watched by a camera. Equally scary are the many excuses and reasons to rationalize killing another human being. Such a waste of life for both the victims and the perpetrators, and the collateral damage of their families.
Getting back to the drama, I did check out recently a couple of police shows that caught my interest, due to their quirky themes. My favorite is High Potential, with Kaitlin Olson as Morgan, a single mother, cleaning lady, yet with a high IQ of 160. Through a chain of events, she’s discovered by the police for her deductive capabilities, and ends up working for them as an advisor. The other show is called Elsbeth, played by Carrie Preston, an astute attorney with similar abilities, and also a police advisor. Her deductive skills are a little more subtle than Morgan’s.
I found both shows to be good in their own way, but also found myself having to choose between the two of them due to time constraints, so I chose High Potential.
You may be wondering at this point what this all has to do with ghosts. The answer is absolutely nothing, except for the fact that in terms of drama, I’ve also started watching a TV series on BBC First, during its free preview, and guess what the name is?
A couple of years ago, I got into watching a comedy series, with a touch of the supernatural; right up my alley. It was about a young married couple (no kids) who inherit a mansion out in the country. As it turns out, the estate is haunted by several ghosts, each representing a different period in history. As it takes place in the States, I’ll let your mind fill in the blanks. It turns out that after an accident and coma, the wife has the ability to see and talk with the ghosts, and so all sorts of shenanigans take place, with the husband laughably caught in the middle.
I watched the show for a couple of months, and although found it cute, after a while I began to lose interest, and stopped watching. Which brings me back to BBC First.
With the free preview, I noticed in the guide a show called Ghosts. At first, I figured it was the same (American) show from two years ago – not! Turns out the original Ghosts is in fact British, and the American version adapted from it.
It follows the exact same theme as the American, but with British historical figures. I immediately took a liking to it, finding it better acted and produced. The chemistry between characters also has a lot to do with it.
Overall, I find both versions a nice update on an old theme, where a friendly ghost, or in this case ghosts, interact with the living in a humorous way. This genre goes back to at least 1945, with the comedy, Blithe Spirit, also British, and more famous, the 1947 movie, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, later made into a TV series.
